On the same night of the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner, President Donald Trump did not address a possible increase in gun regulation, but rather the need to fund the White House event room.
“I have to say it’s not a particularly secure building,” Trump said of the Hilton Washington resort. “I didn’t want to say it, but that’s why we need all the features we’re planning for the White House. It’s a bigger room and much more secure; it’s drone-proof and has bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why the Secret Service and the military demand it.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) is pushing a project to obtain the funds required for President Trump’s project, but negotiations with his party colleagues are slow, while several Democrats reject such a project.
Graham’s bill would provide $400 million and is co-sponsored by Republicans Katie Britt (Alabama) and Eric Schmitt (Missouri).
Senator Rick Scott (Florida) opposes the proposal of his party colleagues, believing that taxpayers should not pay for the ballroom.
“I don’t understand why it would be done if it’s already funded,” Scott said on NBC News. “We have $39 trillion in debt… Maybe we should stop spending money.”
However, Scott does not reject the project, as long as it is paid for with private funds, as he claims is already the case.
“We need the ballroom, and Democrats need to get over their obsession with Trump and stop blocking him,” Scott said in a post on
None of the congressmen point out that the White House Correspondents’ Association event is not a government event, but rather an event for journalists, where the current president and other officials are invited.
An excellent battle pending
The approval of the bill in Congress promoted by Republicans appears to seek to overcome a court block on the construction of the ballroom.
Last Thursday, a federal judge issued a new order halting construction of such a project, finding that the administration was using tricks to try to circumvent his previous ruling that suspended construction.
Washington, DC District Court Judge Richard Leon justified his decision based on the fact that the project would have to be approved by Congress, but the Trump administration argued that the opinion would continue, since the construction has a security exception, since it includes other spaces, such as an underground bunker.
“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from start to finish, falls within the safety and security exception and, therefore, can continue without interruption. That is not a reasonable or correct interpretation of my Order!” León wrote about his new decision. “It is, to say the least, incredible, if not hypocritical, for defendants to now argue that my Order does not stop construction of the ballroom due to the safety and security exception.”
Since that day, Trump criticized Judge León for opposing his project, but after the shooting, the president and his allies have increased their arguments about the supposed need to build the ballroom.
This Monday, the Department of Justice issued a motion before Judge León to allow the Trump administration to continue construction of the ballroom.
Democrats reject Trump ballroom
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) criticized his Republican counterpart’s bill as there are other priorities.
“As our nation wages Donald Trump’s reckless war against a dangerous and unpredictable enemy, and as the Department of Homeland Security remains underfunded due to intrigue within the president’s own party, Donald Trump has chosen to focus on a taxpayer-funded luxury ballroom instead of addressing these important national security issues,” Schumer launched.
Schumer said Trump and his allies appear to have an “obsession” with the ballroom.
“Donald Trump and the Republicans’ obsession with the ballroom shows how disconnected they are from reality,” he said.
The leader of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives, Pete Aguilar (California), also criticized the opinion of Republicans and made reference to inflation, which increased to 3.3%.
“Gas prices are still very high. And what is Donald Trump focused on? Building a giant arch in Washington, DC and a private ballroom with taxpayer money, for $400 million,” Aguilar said. “A room that 99% of Americans will never be able to access. This is only for the elite. We urge Republicans and Donald Trump to focus on the American people.”
